Neonatal Euthanasia and the Groningen Protocol

The Groningen protocol--euthanasia in severely ill newborns.

Of the 200,000 children born in the Netherlands every year, about 1000 die during the first year of life. For approximately 600 of these infants, death is preceded by a medical decision regarding the end of life. Discussions about the initiation and continuation of treatment in newborns with serious medical conditions are one of the most difficult aspects of pediatric practice. Although technol...

The Groningen Protocol for newborn euthanasia; which way did the slippery slope tilt?

In The Netherlands, neonatal euthanasia has become a legal option and the Groningen Protocol contains an approach to identify situations in which neonatal euthanasia might be appropriate. In the 5 years following the publication of the protocol, neither the prediction that this would be the first step on a slippery slope, nor the prediction of complete transparency and legal control became true...

Rights discourse and neonatal euthanasia.

Neonatal euthanasia: moral considerations and criminal liability.

Despite tremendous advances in medical care for critically ill newborn infants, caregivers in neonatal intensive care units still struggle with how to approach those patients whose prognoses appear to be the most grim, and whose treatments appear to be the most futile. Although the practice of passive neonatal euthanasia, from a moral perspective, has been widely (albeit quietly) condoned, thos...

Euthanasia of neonatal rats with carbon dioxide.

Exposure to CO(2) is a common method used to euthanize rodents in biomedical research and rodent production. The purpose of this study was to determine the length of CO(2) exposure required to euthanize neonatal rats (0 to 10 d old). Multiple groups of rats were exposed to 100% CO(2) for 5 to 60 min. After CO(2) exposure, rats were placed in room air for 20 min to allow for possible recovery. N...